The perfect shot and you missed it. It happens to everyone and yesterday it happened to me.
Tripod
One of my relatives heard about my search for a tripod and said "Before you buy anything, try mine, just so you know what you like and dislike". Good point.
A good tripod is crucial in many situations, especially in macrophotography. While browsing the net, reading reviews, watching videos I learned a lot about tripods. Expensive ones didn't always work better, some functionality is top priority for one photographer but doesn't mean a thing to another.
Before spending a lot of money on a new tripod, or a little less on a second hand one, it sounded like a good idea to try one first.
Differences
The differences between the tripod I have, and this new one, are plenty:
- weight
The present one is bulky, heavy, the new one is light. There is downside to this, of course, the old one has no plastic parts, the new one has many. - size
The new one is no larger than a regular umbrella, the old one is twice as high. The downside of that is, the max height of the new one is lower than max height of the old one. - adjustment features
The present one has good adjustment features, but the new one has more, including a spirit level. One thing the new one lacks is being able to reverse the middle column.
The present one will still be used, but just isn't the one you want to bring with you on a trip.
Using the Tripod
After coffee and small talk I walked into the garden to see if there was anything suitable for the first shot with the new tripod.
Not too fond of wasps, so I passed them by quickly, then I spotted something that could either be birdpoop or a snail. It turned out to be a very, very small snail. Only 5mm in total.
This was my ultimate object. The snail wasn't too happy with my presence but lacked the possibility to flee quickly. To make the most of the shot I fiddled with extension rings, adjusted the tripod, I had fun! But then they called out for me, it was time to leave for a walk in the nearby forest.
This walk was also fun, but I would have loved to spend more time taking pictures of the snail. When I looked at the pictures I had, later on, I realized I indeed should have spent more time. The focus wasn't perfect. It is a shame, because I captured a great moment. The 5mm small snail pooped, in a weird way :)
What happened
The snail (with a hardly visible hole at the end of his head)
The snail puts his antennes flat against his head and the hole fills with black stuff
Antennes back in place, black stuff coming out
And we are done
Time to get going
The Result
Blurry images. Can you imagine what this would have looked like in focus?
Contest
You must have had situations like this. Show me your Bummer shots.
The biggest BUMMER will receive 1 SBI.